Telegraph View: Prince Charles is acting precisely in accordance with
this country’s tradition

The Prince of Wales’s critics are in a flap because His Royal Highness has opinions – on grammar schools, climate change and complementary medicine, among other things. What particularly troubles them is that he has expressed these opinions to government ministers, in person and in writing. They accuse him of causing a “constitutional problem” – and some even seek the urgent release of his handwritten notes to those in elected office.

Such a move would be a classic example of something that was interesting to the public, but not in the public interest. When Walter Bagehot defined the rights and role of the monarch in the 19th century, he famously declared that they had the right to be consulted; the right to encourage; and the right to warn. Arguably, an heir to the throne has all these rights – and more, since he is not yet the head of state, and is not strictly required to be politically neutral.

It should be clear to anyone with a little knowledge of history that Prince Charles is acting precisely in accordance with this country’s tradition. He has been consulted by ministers, and has chosen to encourage and warn where he felt appropriate. Plainly, it is not as if they felt bullied into acting on his every word, not least over his reported enthusiasm for grammar schools.

The truth is that there is an intellectual tradition in this country that views our great institutions with suspicion, even more so when they are in good order. It seeks to reduce the Royal family’s role to mere pomp and ceremony, as if 1,000 years of history can be done away with. Of course, the Prince of Wales knows that when he one day ascends to the throne, he will have to be neutral and seen to be so. But this is not news to him: for six decades, he has embodied the best values and traditions of the monarchy.